Passionfruit flowering but not fruiting

[Meloncat]

My passionfruit that I purchased from Bunnings has grown like mad and flowers profusely,  however the flowers just fall to the ground and it doesn't produce any fruit, does anyone know why this would occur?

 

 

[mich1972]

@Jewelleryrescue  That’s really interesting information, thanks heaps for sharing 😃🐝

[Jason]

Hi @Roberte86,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We're really pleased to have you join us and trust you'll get all manner of helpful advice and project inspiration from our clever and creative community members. Feel free to post anytime you need a hand. 

Sorry to read that you don't feel you got the advice you needed in a Bunnings store. If you'd like me to ask one of our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. experts to get in touch with you to get more details and assist, please let me know. 

As others have shared, you might find these guides useful for tips on how to ensure your passionfruit produces plenty of fruit: How to grow and care for passion fruit and What are your tips for growing passionfruit?

Let me also tag the wonderfully knowledgable @Noelle to see if she might like to share her thoughts on why two vines next to each other might produce such different results, and what you could do to encourage more fruit. 

Thanks,

Jason

[Noelle]

Hi @Roberte86 

You don't need two passionfruit vines in close proximity to have good fruit production, but you do need pollination in order for flowers to set fruits.

The Black Passionfruit is the most prolific of the common varieties available and seems to produce a bumper crop even when there is a scarcity of pollinating insects such as bees. However, intervention in the form of hand pollination (see @Jewelleryrescue 's reply in this thread) will increase your harvest even more.

Some of the other types of passionfruit are, for whatever reason, not as adept at setting fruits. It may that the pistil (female floral part) is receptive to pollen before the anthers (male pollen-bearing floral parts) in each flower are mature and ready to shed their pollen.  This is where hand pollination becomes essential. Take pollen from older flowers that have been fully open for a few days and use it on younger flowers newly opened.

You will know within days if your efforts have been successful.  If the flowers wither and fall off, pollination has not occurred.  If you can see a swelling at the base of the pistil like a tiny fruit developing, then pollination has occurred. It may take a bit of practice to get your technique right but the effort will be worthwhile if you get a good amount of fruit.

[Roberte86]

Noelle,

I have tried hand pollination with a negative result, but I will try your method of old flower pollen to new flowers.

I have a lot of bees around my place, and once years ago when I put an electric mosquito killer outside overnight, it killed hundreds of small MOTHS which are also pollinators, so natural pollinators are not my problem.

All the best  

[Roberte86]

Thanks Jason.